Hey guys, just wanted to say thanks to Artemis Persephone Jackson for being the second reviewer! I love you all :P
Disclaimer: If you saw it in Sky High, I do not own it.
Let me know what you think!
I woke up as usual and did my usual workout routine. I showered and then dressed into a navy cardigan, a gray tank top, denim shorts, and as usual, some black combat boots. It was getting chillier and more like fall every day, so I put on some knit leg warmers underneath the boots. I put on the sunglasses again.
I checked the clock and realized I had more time than usual for breakfast. Good. This way I wouldn't encounter any of the Strongholds for breakfast.
Scarfing down a blueberry muffin, I headed out of the house to Layla's next door. I climbed up the massive tree leading to her window and sat at the top for a moment, enjoying the view and slight breeze. The wind carried scents of leaves, a telltale sign of my favorite season, autumn.
The window to my right slammed open. "Hiya Ave!" Layla nearly shouts. I flinch and almost drop out of the tree.
"God, Layla. Careful. And morning to you too," I yawn tiredly. "Brought you a muffin." I hand a plain corn muffin to her, which she happily accepts and gobbles down.
"I take it you're avoiding Will after last night," she says while climbing onto the tree branch next to me. She wore a striped tee-shirt with a long sleeved shirt underneath and jeans. Of course Will would tell her. It would be silly of me to think he wouldn't.
"Yeah," I sigh. "You're not on his side, are you?
"No, you're right. But don't be so hard on him," she says defensively. It was so obvious she liked him.
I checked the time and realized we had to go. I slithered down the tree and motioned at towards to bus stop to Layla, who followed suit and climbed down the tree.
I walked on the sidewalk, thumbs hooked in my jean pockets.
"Is it true you went on a date with Warren Peace?" asks Layla innocently.
I choke on air and start coughing violently. My lungs heave and wheeze and the coughing slows. I feel my heartbeat growing steadier, and suddenly remember what Layla asked.
"No." The mere thought of it being true makes me laugh hysterically, which I start to do now. Layla puts on a sheepish expression and laughs with me. We stop at the bus stop and see Will already there. I distance myself from him as he and Layla begin talking.
We get on the bus (Ron greets Will jovially with a tip of his hat and an awed expression. He must have heard about the fight.) and I sit down next to Magenta. I don't really talk to anyone in the group but Layla and Will (considering if I'm in the "group" at all).
We share some sarcastic jokes and idly chat till the bus comes to a halt. I rushed out before I could encounter Will and sprinted (invisible) to Mad Science. I turned visible as I set my bag down and sat next to the already reading Warren. I opened my mouth to ask Warren what the heck last night was about but decided against it and pretended to yawn.
"Students of the Sophomore Hero Class, since the Board of Education tells me that over 50% of you is failing," accused Medulla while looking pointedly to a kid in a Burberry hat and oversized glasses, "I've decided to put a teaching assistant in the midst of you so you can 'learn'."
Then, in walked in none other than Gwen Grayson, aka Pink girl. "Hey guys, I'm Gwen Grayson, your new teaching assistant," she chirped and gave a winning smile. I swear, I saw the whole male population (minus Warren, he wouldn't give a damn if Megan Fox walked in) drool. She sat down at the only empty table.
Medulla turned around and fumbled with a few papers. Then, he flipped dramatically and leaned against his desk.
"Rays! From the silliness of the shrink ray to the devastation of the death ray. These are the very foundations of Mad Science," he lectured. Someone knocked on the open door. I snapped my head up to see Will in all his red, white, and blue glory. His eyes met mine briefly and traveled to my right. I felt an uncomfortable heat emanating from Warren.
I nudged Warren and he immediately cooled down while glowering at me. I kept my eyes glued forward as Mr. Medulla told him to take a seat beside Gwen. Why was he even in sophomore class? I bet it was because he's the almighty Commander's son and "deserves" special treatment.
This is basically how class went:
Will looked at Gwen and painstakingly reminded me of a drooling Basset Hound.
She widened her doe eyes and smiled flirtatiously.
I snapped my wooden pencil in my left hand.
If I consider myself to be even remotely a friend of Layla's, I need to update her, stat.
So after watching Will hang all over Gwen for the whole period, I waited at Layla's locker before lunch since the Sidekicks are let out later. Weird, Layla's locker smells like a wild field of… something. I couldn't really tell.
While I was in the middle of listening to my mp3, I felt a slender finger trail quickly from my shoulder to my thigh.
I turned around to find none other than Lash and Speed.
"Yes?" I ask coldly.
"Nothing, just enjoying the view," snickered Speed. He then proceeded to sprint by me, using the wind to knock me down. My reflexes must have been relatively slow that day, because the next thing I knew my cheek met the cold ground. I really didn't want to get into detention again, so I decided to just pick up all my stuff and make a run for it.
"Run, Sidekick, run!" yelled Lash, taunting me. I didn't bother to correct him.
I arrived at the cafeteria doors, panting.
A certain green someone was suddenly at my side. "Avery! You alright?" worried Layla.
"Fine," I grunted. "I was just waiting for you." I straightened up from my hunched over posture. "Hey Magenta, Zach, and Ethan." We exchanged greetings and walked into the cafeteria.
Standing in the lunch line, I chose a Sidekick Sub over a Hero Hoagie, just because I was getting sick of eating the same thing every Tuesday. The cashier looked kind of surprised when she scanned my ID and looked at my lunch. Yeah, soo surprising that a mighty Hero lowered herself to the lowly Sidekicks.
Looks like my predictions were coming out correct. Will was sitting at Gwen Grayson's table along with Penny and some other senior Heroes.
"Guys, guys! Over here," called Will. At least he invited us to sit with him.
"Will? Sitting with Gwen Grayson?" asked Magenta rhetorically. I could tell she was disgusted.
"Yeah, he was hanging all over her in Mad Science. I nearly hurled," I whispered to her.
"Man aims high, gotta give him that," remarked Zach cheerfully as we made our way over to the table.
Suddenly duplicated of Penny shot out and occupied the empty seats. "Sorry, all full," she taunted. Will started fidgeting uncomfortably, and I glared at him, trying to telepathically will him to make the right choice. He just shrugged apologetically at Layla, whose back was stiff and straight.
"That's okay," she said in a falsetto voice. It was most definitely not okay. She gestured to an empty table with her head. "Uh, guys I think I see an empty table over there." She looked back at us and smiled, which I could have never done. I was completely livid. I pressed my lips into a thin line as the guys all walked away. I didn't move and was still rooted to the spot.
"Hey, Avery. You can sit with us if you'd like," said Gwen brightly, as if that would make everything okay.
"I thought there weren't any seats left," I said behind clenched teeth. I stalked away and made sure to brush by Will with my bag.
I plopped down next to Layla and munched on my Sidekick Sub. I felt four pairs of eyes on me so I looked up. Magenta, Zach, Ethan and Layla were all staring.
"What?" I asked defiantly.
"Nothing."
As I walked to my locker before gym, I caught a familiar sight of stripes. I turned the corner and saw Lash holding Ethan and Zach glowing in a locker. He was just about to stuff Ethan into Speeds locker when I turned intangible and walked right through him.
"EW!" he squealed and dropped Ethan. I rolled my eyes. He turned around to see a translucent me glancing up at him. Speed tried to knock me off my feet by rushing by me.
"Ethan!" I called to my right. "Go get help!" He ran around the corner calling for Will. Okay, I meant someone like Medulla, but whatever. Lash went away looking for Ethan while Speed ran at me. I turned solid, stepped to the side, and stuck out my leg. Sure enough, Speed's foot caught right on my shin and tumbled across me. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
He quickly got up and dusted off his jeans. "I've just about had enough of you Sideki"- he started.
I saw Lash haul Zack back to Speed's locker and stuff him into Speeds locker when Will and Layla came around.
"Whoa whoa whoa, easy guys," said Will as Lash grabbed Ethan again. Will removed him gently and tried to make peace. Ethan thanked him and walked next to me.
"Thanks Avery," he said. I nodded without breaking my gaze from Lash and Speed. They stood in front of Lash's locker, trying to hide the conspicuous glow of Zach's powers.
"Zach too," I fumed.
They sighed and yanked Zach out of the locker.
"Not so tough when my boy's around, are you?" Zach, you really need to know when to keep your mouth shut..
"You just think you're just so big and bad, huh Stronghold?" Lash sneered.
"No, I"-
"Please, Will will totally take you!" countered Ethan courageously. Layla and I shared anxious looks. Where was this going?
"Yeah, you saw what happened to Warren, you want a piece of that?" continued Zach.
"Watch it Stronghold, and that big mouth is gonna get you into a lot of trouble," jeered Speed while pointing at Will menacingly. He didn't really say anything…
"I didn't say anything"- said Will frantically.
"Why don't we settle this in P.E.?"
"Why?"
"You're on! If Will can beat you in Save the Citizen, you lay off the Sidekicks for the rest of the year." Ethan! Don't you know better?!
"Yeah and if he loses you can dunk Ethan's head in the toilet everyday till graduation." Shit, Zach!
"Yeah!" said Ethan, until he thought about it. He turned to Zach. "Huh?!"
"You've got yourself a deal," confirmed Lash as I facepalmed.
"Guys! Are you crazy?! No freshman ever won Save the Citizen and those guys are undefeated!" cried Will.
"And you barely know how to use your powers! Sorry, not helping…" Layla said.
"Well you have no choice. You can't let them dunk Ethan's head in the toilet. The dunking must end," reasoned Zach.
"It was your idea, smartass!"
I watched as the male dummy got annihilated by the metal shredder. I was getting more nervous by the second as Lash and Speed had yet another victory.
"Ramirez, Hamilton. Your citizen has just been mulched because you failed to defeat your villains," called Coach Boomer from his high chair. Lash and Speed fist bumped. "Alright next round. Speed Lash, you wanna be heroes or villains?"
"Villains!" came the answer.
"Ooh, there's a surprise," muttered Boomer sarcastically. "Alright, who do you wanna beat next?" I felt Layla fidget next to me and I patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"We'll take little Stronghold"- Will got up in front of me and stretched.
"And we pick Greene!" Shit, shit shit! The scoreboard buzzed as it changed to say 'Stronghold' and 'Greene'.
I made my way down the bleachers and felt a hundred pairs of eyes on me. I stepped up next to Will, who was still stretching.
"What's the plan, Captain America?" I joked. He scowled at the nickname but I could tell he was relieved we were on joking terms again. I slapped on a set of armor on top on my white tank and blue shorts.
"Well"-
"Ghostie, Stronghold, you're the heroes," announced Boomer.
In the stands to my right, I saw Gwen wave at Will seductively. Barf. He looked dazed and waved back till I slapped him and pointed to Boomer.
"You have three minutes to immobilize your opponents and Save the Citizen. Ready, Set, Battle!" yelled Boomer.
Will and I kind of just stood there as Lash stretched his arm out to the "lamppost" to make a sling for Speed. Speed leaned against it and took off, hitting the walls like a pinball. He knocked Will of his feet but ran straight through me, as I was intangible.
Lash tried to grab me while Speed messed around with Will. I phased through his arms and ran at him, turning solid at the last second and slugging him across the face. The crowd "ooh"ed in sympathy for Lash, you could almost hear his face bones crunching. He dropped to the ground and stayed there, unconscious.
I turned around and surrounded myself with a force field and walked to the center of the gym, where the citizen was slowly descending to its doom.
Something suddenly crashed into the force field, causing me to lose focus and make it disappear. I saw Speed grin in front of me and start to circle me rapidly.
What the hell? What was the point of that? I was about to start laughing when I realized my lungs didn't work.
Soon my breathing became heavy and laboured and I dropped to one knee, clutching my throat in desperation for air.
My eyesight was blurry and an aching pain that felt like daggers was coming from my chest.
All I saw was Speed circling me before the darkness fell over me.